9 Feb 2012 Postal Bulletin – Marketing Parcel updates, and bundling

If you’re affected by the changes today, you probably want to go check out the actual articles because the only way to make sure I don’t leave out something important is bascially to copy the text here, which seems counterproductive. That said, the three articles are:

The sack and container label changes for Marketing Parcels are effective in less than a month(!) on March 5, and they change the content line of sack and container labels of carrier route Standard Mail(r) Marketing parcels. It appears the places where there is currently text saying something like “For mailings of only Marketing parcels weighing 6 ounces or more, use “MKTG” on line 2 of sack labels instead of “MACH”…” are all being deleted. The corresponding sections for flats in the CIN table (exhibit 708.6.2.4) just have their headings changed, but retain their current human readable content lines, except for the “ECR Irregular Parcels – Nonautomation” section changes to “ECR Marketing Parcels” AND gets the content lines updated; for example CIN 599 will now be “STD MKTG WSS” instead of “STD IRREG WSS.”

The article on Shipper Paid Forwarding, also effective March 5, seems to include many updates related to the new Parcel Select Lightweight category, as well as other changes. There are seven pages for you to study there if you’re affected by it. There is a statement that “Additional changes are made to simplify the DMM, without making any substantive changes.”

The third DMM revision says it will “…consolidate and centralize most of the bundling standards for letters, flats, and parcels in a new section 601.2.0. We will also relocate and consolidate current packaging and cushioning standards into renumbered section 601.3.0. This revision represents a repositioning of current standards.” So now (almost) all the text about bundling from each specific mail type will be found in 601, not in each section where it applies. For example, the exception about not having to bundle letters that would normally be bundled if they are in a full single-sort level tray is not in 235.2.5 with the other rules for letter tray preparation, but in 601.2.4. It appears the text is just moved from one place to another, but I admit I have not read it all line-by-line to see if there were any small updates embedded in the change. If you see any differences, of course I’d appreciate hearing about them!